Mathieu Van Der Poel Could Be Out For Months Due to Back Pain
Back pain prevented Mathieu Van Der Poel from competing in the World Championships XCO race in Val di Sole last August, and now Team Alpecin-Fenix has announced that Van Der Poel won't be able to defend his world cyclocross title later this month.
 | Because of my back pain I haven’t been able to reach my desired level since Le Tour de France. I just want that to be in the past. The only remedy turns out to be a longer rest period. So it would be foolish to interrupt this period again and still try to make it to the World Championships. We all agree on that. Even though it is very bitter – I have participated in the World CX Championships 10 consecutive times – not being able to defend my title in the States is a real downer. I'm not worried about the future of my career, but of course it frustrates me now not knowing how long this rest period will last. We’ll only set a date and goals if we can do so in a substantiated manner. Until then, I'll do what I can. |
CyclingTips has further reported that it could be months before we see the 26-year-old Dutch powerhouse back racing. The injury Van der Poel is suffering from is called retrolisthesis and Van der Poel’s team doctor Guy De Schutter explained to Het Nieuwsblad that one of the discs in his back isn't fully functioning and needs complete rest to heal, something that will take some time.
| One of the discs in his back didn’t fully function as a shock absorber resulting in less movement in his lower back. The ligaments and muscles around became overloaded and the disc itself inflamed. The problems started in the Tour de Suisse and were worsened by that crash in [Tokyo]. The systems in his lower back need a complete reset. Then we can start to put pressure on it again and only then we can start building on basic fitness very slowly and monitor that very closely. This process takes a lot of time so we are not putting a deadline on it. |
The Alpecin Fenix team announced it signed Mathieu Van Der Poel for a further four seasons in September and the team supports is supporting Van Der Poel rest period and his recovery. Van der Poel has been part of the Belgian outfit for the past ten years and will continue to race in their colours until the end of 2025.
| The Tour of Flanders on 3 April seems far away but is just around the corner. To build form you need seven to eight weeks and then you see it will be close. We won’t start to early and cause this pain to become chronic for Mathieu. That’s for the athlete Van der Poel but also for the person [behind the athlete] who hopefully has a long life ahead of him. As a rider Mathieu has a lot to win still but nothing to prove anymore. Of course we prefer one month of rest instead of three but we rather start two weeks too late than half an hour too soon. |
We wish Mathieu Van Der Poel all the best with his recovery and hope to see him back racing all disciplines pain-free, including World Cup XC, later this season.
Author Info:
I believe that 20 min mild walk or run + sauna, Few exercises will help
I dealt with similar issues when I had my lowe back injury. I eventually recovered 100% but it took nearly 8 years.
www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-der-poels-early-tour-de-france-exit-not-good-for-cycling-says-eddy-merckx
Hope he is healing well and will come back soon .
Yeah, it must be pretty frustrating. He and his inner circle regularly admit he's a bit of a Duracell bunny. Full of energy... I guess Fortnite has become riskier since now. He used to play that game a lot and probably still does.